An electrifying move – but JLR is still playing catch-up
IN setting out its new strategy, JLR has essentially set out a target to meet the government’s 2030 target for going electric, starting with Jaguar becoming an upmarket electric competitor to Tesla from 2025.
Land Rover and Range Rover brands will still produce hybrids through to 2036 in line with government targets.
By the end of the decade, every Jaguar and Land Rover model will be offered with a Battery Electric version.
Longer term, hydrogen fuel cell powered cars could feature as well, prototypes of which will start rolling on UK roads in a year’s time. And diesels will be ditched from 2026.
Overall this is a very welcome move by JLR to electrify but remember that the firm is playing catch up. The direction of travel is now clear but how it will meet this goal is still to be seen.
Indeed, big questions remain. What models will it make? How many cars will it aim to produce? How many workers will it need? And can the firm shift to an electric future on its own or will it need a partner?
Positively, JLR has said that it won’t shut plants and that here will be no compulsory redundancies. That’s good news for unions and workers.
The firm outlined investment in new platforms at Solihull and Halewood but not Castle Bromwich, so where does that leave the latter, especially as the firm has canned the new electric XJ model meant to be produced there?
Castle Bromwich will continue to make the Jaguar XE, XF and F-Type models until the end of their current lifespans.
Chief executive Thierry Bollore talked about ‘repurposing’ Castle Bromwich – although what for isn’t clear.
He said that Castle Bromwich will “benefit from a consolidation” of the firm’s other Midlands-based production facilities. Cue much speculation about possible battery assembly.
But given that the plant has a paint shop and a metal pressings facility, maybe using it for the firm’s niche high performance Special Vehicle Operations (SVO) could be a more likely option.
What is clear is that the firm is aiming to make fewer cars (“quality rather than volume”) with less people – ‘rightsizing’ its operation. That will mean job losses but how many is not clear. Meanwhile, the firm has dropped its previous goal of producing a million cars a year.
And Bollore more than hinted that the new electric Jaguar brand will need to take a new direction.
He said “Land Rover would be the SUVs”, effectively recognising h Jaguar SUVs cannibalised its market by competing with Land Rover and Range Rover products.
A specific all electric platform for Jaguar will help differentiate it from Land Rover and Range Rover cars.
To cut costs, the firm will go from using five platforms (the expensive bits that underpin cars) down to three. But developing new platforms is an expensive business especially in an electric age, and whether JLR can do this on its own, or will need to partner with another carmaker is a big question going forward.
The firm has mentioned partnering with others in the Tata Group which owns JLR, but don’t be surprised if the on-going collaboration with BMW over electric motors and engines is pushed further.
MAJOR new plans to regenerate a former college and sports site in Birmingham have been revealed.
A joint venture team of Apsley House Capital and Galliard Homes has submitted the new proposals to build 438 residential units on land at the corner of Belgrave Middleway and Haden Way, Balsall
Heath.
The 11.5-acre site once housed Joseph Chamberlain College, which now occupies land directly opposite, and Birmingham Sports Centre but has been vacant for around 20 years.
If given the green light by city planning chiefs, the project would comprise a series of terraces and apartment blocks of differing heights, reaching up to 12 storeys.
There would be 219 onebedroom and 107 two-bedroom apartments and 38 two-bedroom, 62 three-bedroom and 12 four-bedroom houses alongside green space and parking for 263 cars, 17 motorcycles and bike parking for all residents. A report supporting the newly submitted planning application said: “The vision for Belgrave Middleway is to create a new neighbourhood in a sustainable location in Birmingham, with high-quality amenity space and high quality architecture. The regeneration of the former Joseph Chamberlain site presents a unique opportunity to shape a new urban environment and a moment of significant change in the area.
“The vision is to create a liveable, walkable neighbourhood with homes that people love, surrounded by green spaces they enjoy, an urban village located on the fringes of the city.”
The development team is established in Birmingham, leading on residential schemes The Timber Yard in the Gay Village, the canalside Soho Loop project in Ladywood and the St Paul’s Quarter scheme in the Jewellery Quarter.
On her LinkedIn profile Ms Hellard describes herself currently as a freelance selfemployed director of finance, with previous roles including director of finance and resources at Liverpool City Council, 2012-2018.
Before that she was director of finance and strategic change at Bradford Council, Jan 2007 - May 2012; and chief executive of Breckland Council, April 2004 to December 2006.
Ms Hellard was brought in when the council’s director of finance Clive Heaphy was asked to ‘act up’ as chief executive in September 2019.
She stepped in to take over his responsibilities on a temporary basis - but when Heaphy was overlooked for the top role and left the council, she stayed on in the role.
Ms Hellard is also sole director of Public Sector Consulting Plus Ltd, a limited company registered with Companies House as a financial management company, based in Keighley, West Yorkshire.